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Having a Baby for Under $3,000? Two Aussie Mums Share Their Receipts · She's On The Money

0:00
Speaker 1: She's on the money. She's on the money.
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Speaker 2: My name's Natasha Bambler. I'm a proud First Nations woman
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Speaker 2: and I'm here to acknowledge country. Hello, beautiful friends. We
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Speaker 2: gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people. We thank,
0:18
Speaker 2: acknowledge and respect the Aboriginal people's land that we're gathering
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Speaker 2: on today. Take pleasure in all the land and respect
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Speaker 2: all that you see. She's on the Money podcast, acknowledges culture, country,
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Speaker 2: community and connections, bringing you the tools, knowledge and resources
0:32
Speaker 2: for you to thrive.
0:32
Speaker 3: Hello and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
0:35
Speaker 3: where we discuss all of the issues affecting your personal
0:38
Speaker 3: wealth goals so that you can feel more in control
0:40
Speaker 3: of your financial future. And for many of you, that
0:43
Speaker 3: future might involve having a family. A few months back,
0:46
Speaker 3: we ran an episode highlighting all of the costs I
0:49
Speaker 3: incurred while having a baby through the private health system.
0:52
Speaker 3: From receipts to private health insurance cover and any out-of-pocket
0:56
Speaker 3: costs accrued along the way, I gave you an itemized
0:59
Speaker 3: list of my trimester by trimester costs. And let's just
1:03
Speaker 3: say that that episode caused quite a stir because it
1:07
Speaker 3: only really showed one side of the coin. So today,
1:09
Speaker 3: I'm going to be taking you through a few scenarios
1:12
Speaker 3: from members within our own community who wrote in to
1:14
Speaker 3: share their experiences and their receipts with after having a
1:18
Speaker 3: baby through the public system. Now, it bears repeating that
1:21
Speaker 3: while we love to get into the financial nitty-gritty surrounding
1:24
Speaker 3: issues that concern our audience, this topic might feel a
1:27
Speaker 3: little bit loaded or maybe a little bit sensitive for you,
1:30
Speaker 3: and I get it. After all, I really do understand
1:33
Speaker 3: what it's like to face hurdles on your way to
1:36
Speaker 3: starting a family. So if this is true for you,
1:39
Speaker 3: please feel free to skip this episode or take breaks
1:42
Speaker 3: whenever you need, and we're going to catch you on
1:44
Speaker 3: the next one anyway. Now for a quick coffee break
1:47
Speaker 3: before we get into the facts and the figures from
1:49
Speaker 3: two She's On The Money community members. Welcome back to
1:56
Speaker 3: our follow-up episode on just how much it actually costs
1:59
Speaker 3: to have a baby through the public healthcare system. Our
2:03
Speaker 3: last episode was admittedly a little bit easier to put
2:06
Speaker 3: together because, hi, it included all of my own actual receipts.
2:11
Speaker 3: This time, though, I put a call out to the
2:13
Speaker 3: community to hear from people who had recorded their costs
2:16
Speaker 3: within the public health system. So today, I'm going to
2:19
Speaker 3: be sharing two very unique stories from mums across the
2:22
Speaker 3: country who to demonstrate just how much these costs vary
2:25
Speaker 3: from person to person, because at the end of the day,
2:28
Speaker 3: it's a deeply personal experience. And you might find that
2:31
Speaker 3: one pathway might better suit your wants and needs, but
2:35
Speaker 3: totally differs for other parents. Or you might find that
2:38
Speaker 3: it varies from baby to baby. The common thread that
2:41
Speaker 3: I found was that of all the people interviewed... Most
2:44
Speaker 3: had a really wonderful experience with the public healthcare system,
2:48
Speaker 3: with a very special shout out to the very hardworking
2:51
Speaker 3: midwives out there.
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Speaker 1: They are really doing the most.
2:54
Speaker 3: All right, so before I bring in the figures from
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Speaker 3: our first mum, let me gently remind you of the
2:59
Speaker 3: average amount that an Australian family spends setting up for
3:02
Speaker 3: a new baby. In 2021, Westpac found that this figure
3:05
Speaker 3: was roughly $ 7, 918, then approximately $ 600 a month. once the
3:12
Speaker 3: baby had arrived. And just for a little bit of comparison, personally,
3:16
Speaker 3: I spent about $ 25, 000 during my experience having my daughter Campbell.
3:21
Speaker 3: So already there's quite a big gap between the average
3:24
Speaker 3: and then my own spend. But remember, the average takes
3:27
Speaker 3: into account everyone in that data pool. There very may
3:31
Speaker 3: well be some of you out there who will end
3:33
Speaker 3: up spending much, much less on your journey. And this
3:35
Speaker 3: certainly was the case for our friend Hannah.
3:38
Speaker 2: All right.
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Speaker 3: Hannah is a 31-year-old mum from Melbourne who wrote in
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Speaker 3: to say, Hey, I just listened to your episode about
3:45
Speaker 3: pregnancy costs. I've had two babies in the public system,
3:49
Speaker 3: one C-section and one VBAC. I'm very happy to share
3:52
Speaker 3: with you. I had both babies at the same hospital
3:55
Speaker 3: in the same midwife group practice and had a student
3:59
Speaker 3: midwife for my second.
4:00
Speaker 1: We followed up with Hannah to hear.
4:02
Speaker 3: More about her experience within the public health system And
4:05
Speaker 3: it sounded like she not only had an exceptional midwifery
4:08
Speaker 3: team behind her, but that the costs to have her
4:11
Speaker 3: kids were pretty reasonable. Hannah had both of her kids
4:15
Speaker 3: through the midwife group practice or the MGP, which if
4:19
Speaker 3: you aren't familiar with is a method of care that
4:20
Speaker 3: you can be referred through to via your GP really
4:23
Speaker 3: early in your pregnancy. Basically, the MGP enables you to
4:27
Speaker 3: be guided by the same primary midwife and a small
4:31
Speaker 3: supporting group of midwives through your pregnancy, childbirth and into
4:34
Speaker 3: the early weeks of being at home with a new baby. Now,
4:38
Speaker 3: there are a bunch of different methods of care to
4:40
Speaker 3: choose from. So, for example, you might be going through
4:42
Speaker 3: the public hospital maternity care stream where your care is
4:46
Speaker 3: being delivered by a multidisciplinary team throughout your pregnancy. This
4:51
Speaker 3: includes a range of different midwives and doctors. You might
4:54
Speaker 3: also choose what's called shared care, which is where your
4:57
Speaker 3: support is often split between a community GP or community
5:01
Speaker 3: midwife and the public hospital clinic. Or like me, you
5:04
Speaker 3: might opt for private obstetrician specialist care, which is then
5:07
Speaker 3: delivered by a private specialist obstetrician that you have chosen
5:11
Speaker 3: personally who attends appointments and then oversees your delivery. Like Hannah,
5:16
Speaker 3: you might be lucky enough to go through the MGP,
5:18
Speaker 3: which I've only heard really great things about. Hannah's journey
5:21
Speaker 3: begins at about four weeks where I quote, she just
5:24
Speaker 3: knew she was pregnant. And I've heard this from so
5:26
Speaker 3: many different people that sometimes you just know, you know.
5:31
Speaker 3: So at four weeks, some of Hannah's costs included a
5:34
Speaker 3: packet of pregnancy tests at 30 bucks, some ovulation strip
5:38
Speaker 3: tests at $ 60 and a book by Tony Weschler called
5:42
Speaker 3: Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which cost her about $ 45.
5:45
Speaker 3: And then at week five, she started taking her prenatal supplements,
5:48
Speaker 3: which cost her roughly $ 40 a month. So we're going
5:52
Speaker 3: to add that cost into the mix as we go.
5:55
Speaker 3: Then for Hannah, she didn't accrue any other costs until
5:58
Speaker 3: week eight, where Hannah paid $ 55 for an out-of-pocket cost
6:02
Speaker 3: for a GP appointment after the Medicare rebate.
6:05
Speaker 1: During week 10, Hannah.
6:07
Speaker 3: Had her dating scan, which is an ultrasound to basically
6:10
Speaker 3: see how much your baby has developed and what your
6:13
Speaker 3: approximate due date might be. This cost her between $ 250
6:16
Speaker 3: and $ 300. To be thorough, I've used the $ 300 figure though.
6:22
Speaker 3: So to calculate it really quickly, Hannah spent a total
6:25
Speaker 3: of $ 570 during her first trimester. Given that Hannah was
6:30
Speaker 3: low risk and didn't experience any intense first trimester symptoms
6:34
Speaker 3: like HG, for those of you playing at home, I
6:36
Speaker 3: had that, her costs were pretty standard for this portion
6:40
Speaker 3: of her pregnancy. Please keep in mind that these costs
6:43
Speaker 3: were incurred a few years ago and things have definitely
6:46
Speaker 3: become slightly more expensive in So things like scans and
6:49
Speaker 3: GP appointments might be a little bit more X-y today.
6:52
Speaker 3: All right, during her second trimester, Hannah kicked it off
6:55
Speaker 3: with a few tests, namely a blood test and scan
6:58
Speaker 3: combo for $ 350, followed by an NIPT test. Now, the
7:04
Speaker 3: NIPT is completely optional and offers a more detailed level
7:08
Speaker 3: of scanning for any common chromosomal differences that might be
7:12
Speaker 3: able to predict early signs of various conditions that your
7:15
Speaker 3: baby might have. You can also opt at this point
7:19
Speaker 3: to find out the sex of your baby. And it's
7:21
Speaker 3: all done through a blood test, which is currently between
7:24
Speaker 3: $ 495 and $ 525 in Victoria, depending on where you're going
7:30
Speaker 3: to have it done. Again, I've used the higher figure
7:33
Speaker 3: for our totals so that we keep a running consistent total.
7:36
Speaker 3: Then she didn't have any further costs, the lucky thing,
7:39
Speaker 3: until week 18, where she booked in a GP appointment
7:43
Speaker 3: to get a referral for her upcoming anatomy scan. Again,
7:46
Speaker 3: this appointment cost her $ 55 out of pocket after the
7:50
Speaker 3: Medicare rebate. At week 20, we're halfway there. Hannah had
7:55
Speaker 3: her anatomy scan, which was between $ 400 and $ 500. And basically,
7:59
Speaker 3: this is when the sonographer checks that all the important
8:02
Speaker 3: limbs and organs are developing as they should. And of course,
8:06
Speaker 3: you can confirm the sex of the baby if you
8:08
Speaker 3: haven't already gathered that from an NIPT. Then Hannah spent
8:13
Speaker 3: nothing until her last trimester. So during trimester two, she
8:17
Speaker 3: spent a total of $ 1, 430, bringing her rolling total for
8:21
Speaker 3: this pregnancy to a very tidy two grand. Now, my friends,
8:26
Speaker 3: we are on what pregnant people often call the home stretch.
8:30
Speaker 3: Usually during your third trimester, you'll go through something called
8:33
Speaker 3: the glucose tolerance test, or for short, the GTT. It
8:37
Speaker 3: measures how efficiently your body processes and clears sugar from
8:40
Speaker 3: your bloodstream. This can help with identifying the possibility of
8:44
Speaker 3: gestational diabetes or GD in your pregnancy, which can impact
8:48
Speaker 3: your experience throughout. During our chat, Hannah mentioned that she
8:52
Speaker 3: was diagnosed with GD in her third trimester. So at
8:57
Speaker 3: week 28, we have a total of $ 160 to add.
9:01
Speaker 3: She spent $ 100 on her glucose test strips. She got
9:04
Speaker 3: 40 strips and she bought two packs of them. And
9:06
Speaker 3: then her Inositol, which was $ 60. She also said that
9:10
Speaker 3: she had some apple cider vinegar. She didn't count that, though,
9:13
Speaker 3: because it was $ 0. It was already in her pantry.
9:16
Speaker 3: Hannah knew that she would be susceptible and opted for
9:19
Speaker 3: glucose testing strips instead of the GTT.
9:22
Speaker 1: And this was supported by her midwives.
9:24
Speaker 3: She also was taking apple cider vinegar, which helped her
9:27
Speaker 3: and her blood sugars, but this wasn't an out-of-pocket cost because,
9:31
Speaker 3: as I said, she had it in her pantry already.
9:34
Speaker 3: At 35 weeks pregnant, she topped up on glucose test strips, adding.
9:38
Speaker 1: Another $ 100 to her spend.
9:40
Speaker 3: Then at 36 and 38 weeks, Hannah booked in to
9:43
Speaker 3: see an OT to help with her VBAC prep, which
9:47
Speaker 3: a VBAC means a vaginal birth after cesarean, which is
9:50
Speaker 3: when you plan to deliver vaginally after a cesarean, right?
9:53
Speaker 3: So each appointment cost her $ 180 out of pocket, and
9:57
Speaker 3: then the only cost left was parking during the birth
10:00
Speaker 3: of her child, which was only 30 bucks because they
10:03
Speaker 3: give birthing parents a little docket to reduce fees on
10:05
Speaker 3: the day of delivery. Is that a money win? I'm
10:08
Speaker 3: going to count it as one. So Hannah has spent
10:11
Speaker 3: a total of $ 650, taking her rolling total to $ 2, 650
10:12
Speaker 3: for her entire pregnancy my friends. So this sits well
10:22
Speaker 3: below the Westpac average and is maybe 10% of what
10:26
Speaker 3: I paid with my experience with Campbell. So it goes
10:29
Speaker 3: to show that it really depends on your own personal
10:32
Speaker 3: health profile and your preferences and what you choose but
10:36
Speaker 3: this is just one experience and to be fair it's
10:39
Speaker 3: another one from the state of Victoria where I'm based.
10:42
Speaker 3: Naturally in my head I had to find another comparison
10:45
Speaker 3: to demonstrate what another parent went through in a state
10:48
Speaker 3: that was completely different to the profile that we've just
10:51
Speaker 3: gone through. When we return from the break we're going
10:53
Speaker 3: to be introducing another community member and the costs that
10:56
Speaker 3: they incurred while having a child through the public health
10:59
Speaker 3: system on the other side of the country.
11:01
Speaker 1: So guys don't go anywhere.
11:07
Speaker 3: Hello, my friends, and welcome back to our special episode
11:09
Speaker 3: dedicated to the costs of having a baby in the
11:12
Speaker 3: public health care system. We've just heard all of the
11:15
Speaker 3: costs from Melbourne mum Hannah, and now it's time to
11:18
Speaker 3: dash across the country to meet another mum. Erin is
11:22
Speaker 3: a 31-year-old mum from Perth who wrote in to us
11:25
Speaker 3: to say, hey, she's on the money. I've just listened
11:27
Speaker 3: to Victoria's episode on the costs of having a baby.
11:30
Speaker 3: I know I'm a bit behind, but having a nine-month-old.
11:33
Speaker 1: Will do that to you.
11:34
Speaker 3: And I heard you were after a woman who went
11:36
Speaker 3: through the public health system to do a money diary,
11:39
Speaker 3: and I would love to volunteer as a tribute. I
11:42
Speaker 3: tried to do my pregnancy as cheap as possible and
11:45
Speaker 3: went through a bulk billing community midwife, then a midwife-run
11:49
Speaker 3: family birth centre, but ended up transferring to the public
11:53
Speaker 3: hospital so I didn't pay anything for my appointments and
11:56
Speaker 3: only paid out.
11:56
Speaker 1: Of pocket for two ultrasounds.
11:59
Speaker 3: I also had hospital parking, supplements and physio appointments that
12:03
Speaker 3: I can.
12:03
Speaker 1: Calculate the cost of for you guys.
12:05
Speaker 3: I was very keen to hear how the services and
12:08
Speaker 3: costs compared over the west side, so I got in
12:10
Speaker 3: touch with Erin to get a rundown on the costs
12:13
Speaker 3: that she incurred. And my friend, she wasn't kidding. It
12:16
Speaker 3: sounds like her experience was super cost effective and deeply supportive. Honestly,
12:21
Speaker 3: bless those midwife run birth centers, right? Erin originally wanted
12:25
Speaker 3: a water birth and things didn't necessarily go as planned.
12:29
Speaker 3: So she ended up going through a family birth center instead.
12:32
Speaker 3: If you're considering something like the MGP in Perth or
12:35
Speaker 3: Western Australia, you'll want to look at how these spots
12:38
Speaker 3: are allocated because she did mention that it was based
12:41
Speaker 3: on catchment and what area you are located in. So
12:45
Speaker 3: do your research. And what I would be doing is
12:47
Speaker 3: trying to book in as early as possible. Like Hannah said,
12:50
Speaker 3: Erin also had a feeling that she was pregnant at
12:52
Speaker 3: around four weeks. So while she was using ovulation tests,
12:56
Speaker 3: there was just something that made her think, yep, I'm sure.
12:59
Speaker 3: So before the five-week mark, her costs included things like
13:03
Speaker 3: ovulation tests, which were just over $ 13, and pregnancy tests,
13:07
Speaker 3: which she'd acquired in a buy-nothing-new group. Honestly, what a
13:11
Speaker 3: money win. I think this woman's a genius. Now, what's
13:14
Speaker 3: interesting about Erin's journey is that she was already seeing
13:17
Speaker 3: an acupuncturist for fertility reasons. And so she had a
13:21
Speaker 3: session booked in at the five-week mark. By the time
13:24
Speaker 3: the appointment rolled around, she was already pregnant. And you
13:28
Speaker 3: aren't going to cancel now, right? The appointment was $ 95
13:31
Speaker 3: out of pocket.
13:33
Speaker 1: At six weeks, Erin saw.
13:34
Speaker 3: A community midwife who worked through a bulk-billed GP clinic.
13:39
Speaker 3: So the session was completely covered by Medicare, an ongoing
13:42
Speaker 3: theme in all of her costs, just as an FYI.
13:45
Speaker 3: The appointment she had was to confirm the pregnancy and
13:47
Speaker 3: also access referrals for upcoming scans. So our rolling total
13:51
Speaker 3: right now is $ 0. At seven weeks, Erin only paid
13:57
Speaker 3: $ 2. 27 for parking during her scans and blood tests because
14:03
Speaker 3: everything for her was bulk-pilled. I know, how good is
14:05
Speaker 3: it when things like scans along the way are entirely covered?
14:09
Speaker 3: That is not something that I experienced. So our rolling
14:12
Speaker 3: total right now at seven weeks is $ 2.
14:14
Speaker 1: 27.
14:17
Speaker 3: At week 10, Erin went back to the bulk build
14:19
Speaker 3: community midwife for a referral with no out-of-pocket costs incurred there.
14:24
Speaker 3: And during weeks 11 and 12, she had another bulk
14:26
Speaker 3: build blood test followed by an ultrasound. To be fair,
14:30
Speaker 3: this scan did cost $ 231.
14:31
Speaker 1: 75 upfront with $ 66.
14:31
Speaker 3: 75 returned to her via Medicare. So Erin was out
14:33
Speaker 3: of pocket at this point for $ 165 this week. During
14:44
Speaker 3: this trimester, she'd purchased things like electrolytes, some probiotics, some
14:48
Speaker 3: prenatals at different stages. She went through her bank statements
14:52
Speaker 3: for us and she's given us a trimester total of
14:56
Speaker 3: $ 207 spent on these bits and bobs. So for Erin
15:00
Speaker 3: throughout this trimester, she's spent a total of $ 469. 27, which
15:03
Speaker 3: to be honest, I think is pretty incredible given that
15:10
Speaker 3: a single ultrasound can cost this much alone or the
15:15
Speaker 3: NIPT if you choose to have it. And I can't
15:17
Speaker 3: wait to see where her total lands. It's also interesting
15:20
Speaker 3: to see how costs might vary depending on which city
15:23
Speaker 3: or state that you live in. If you're from Western
15:26
Speaker 3: Australia and have a similar experience, honestly, please let me
15:29
Speaker 3: know in the comments. I am so on top of
15:31
Speaker 3: this content at the moment. All right, it looks like
15:34
Speaker 3: there might have been a few more costs incurred during
15:36
Speaker 3: Erin's second trimester, but still, I would say it's pretty low.
15:40
Speaker 3: At week 13, Erin saw her community midwife, which was bog-billed.
15:44
Speaker 3: Then at 14 weeks, she took a tour of the
15:46
Speaker 3: family birth centre, so a parking fee of a wild
15:51
Speaker 3: $ 1. 20 was involved. And she also bought herself a pregnancy
15:54
Speaker 3: pillow this week for $ 113. 46. At week 15, Erin had
16:01
Speaker 3: her first appointment at the Family Birth Centre, which was
16:03
Speaker 3: bulk billed, but she had to pay for parking, which.
16:06
Speaker 1: Was $ 3. 11.
16:07
Speaker 3: And at this rate, I think we should all be
16:10
Speaker 3: having babies in Western Australia. At week 19, Erin had
16:14
Speaker 3: her anatomy scan, which was $ 165 in total out of pocket.
16:19
Speaker 3: Then at week 21, she booked herself in for a
16:21
Speaker 3: pregnancy massage at $ 110.
16:23
Speaker 1: 00. slay queen.
16:25
Speaker 3: If you weren't already deserving of one, saving this much
16:28
Speaker 3: during your first and second trimester, honestly, deserves a little treat,
16:32
Speaker 3: does it not? Now, many people in our community experience
16:35
Speaker 3: something called pelvic girdle pain, which can come on relatively quickly.
16:40
Speaker 3: And I'm telling you right now, as someone who experienced this,
16:43
Speaker 3: it is not a fun time. And this is something
16:46
Speaker 3: that Erin experienced. And good thing she saw a physio
16:50
Speaker 3: about it because you shouldn't have to suffer in silence.
16:53
Speaker 3: Of course, pregnancy comes with all sorts of different aches
16:56
Speaker 3: and pains and just niggles. But if you can manage
16:59
Speaker 3: it with the support of a professional, my friend, why not?
17:02
Speaker 3: So at week 23, Erin paid $ 177 out of pocket
17:08
Speaker 3: to see a physio and $ 33 of that was covered
17:11
Speaker 3: by her private health insurance. Finally, during week 27, Erin
17:16
Speaker 3: completed her GTT test and needed to pay for parking,
17:20
Speaker 3: which was $ 4. 13, my friends. She also saw her physio,
17:24
Speaker 3: which was $ 80. 30 out of pocket after the rebate. During
17:28
Speaker 3: this trimester, Erin purchased things like, again, electrolytes, probiotics and prenatals,
17:32
Speaker 3: as well as she's adding some iron and magnesium supplements.
17:36
Speaker 3: So she's given us a total of $ 331. 91 for all
17:37
Speaker 3: of these. So if we add all of this up,
17:39
Speaker 3: in trimester two, Erin spent a total of $ 986. 11, bringing
17:40
Speaker 3: her rolling total for this pregnancy at the end of
17:43
Speaker 3: trimester two, to a not so whopping $ 1, 455.
17:54
Speaker 1: 38.
17:55
Speaker 3: Will Erin's pregnancy costs actually come under Hannah's though? I
18:01
Speaker 3: am genuinely invested and I know you guys are as well.
18:05
Speaker 3: So looking at these costs, honestly, most of it is
18:08
Speaker 3: parking for Erin's final trimester. At 28 weeks, she paid
18:12
Speaker 3: for parking at the birth center, which was $ 2. 01 and
18:15
Speaker 3: And then at week 30, she visited her physio, which
18:18
Speaker 3: was $ 80. 30 out of pocket after her health insurance rebate.
18:22
Speaker 3: Over weeks 31, 34 and 36, Erin makes a few
18:26
Speaker 3: more visits to the birth centre, paying a total of
18:28
Speaker 3: $ 5. 68 in parking. She told us that parking is free
18:34
Speaker 3: on weekends, which makes some of those visits entirely free
18:37
Speaker 3: unless you start including things like fuel costs.
18:39
Speaker 1: And whilst I am pedantic.
18:41
Speaker 3: I didn't get that pedantic with Erin or myself. Now,
18:45
Speaker 3: at week 35, Erin has another physio visit, which is $ 80.
18:49
Speaker 1: 30 out of pocket.
18:51
Speaker 3: Now, at week 38, Erin's pretty keen to have her baby,
18:55
Speaker 3: so she gets a pregnancy massage for $ 145 and parking
19:00
Speaker 3: at the birth centre was $ 2.
19:01
Speaker 1: 54.
19:04
Speaker 3: Then, during the week of her due date, she visits
19:07
Speaker 3: the birth centre and pays $ 1.
19:08
Speaker 1: 48 for parking.
19:11
Speaker 3: She also books in for a reflexology massage to kind
19:14
Speaker 3: of help bring on the labor. If you know, you know.
19:17
Speaker 3: And she said it didn't quite work out the way
19:20
Speaker 3: she wanted, but there's honestly not that long to go.
19:23
Speaker 3: During week 41, Erin goes to the birth center and
19:26
Speaker 3: they admit her to the hospital because they want to
19:28
Speaker 3: check her fluid levels, given that she's now technically overdue.
19:33
Speaker 3: She has an ultrasound and a reflexology massage for 85 bucks,
19:37
Speaker 3: paying $ 10. 92 for parking, which is the most she's paid
19:40
Speaker 3: for parking this entire pregnancy, if you guys have been
19:43
Speaker 3: keeping track. Now, we're still in week 41 and you guys,
19:46
Speaker 3: she goes into labor and they don't even have to
19:49
Speaker 3: pay for parking. because Erin's given a permit for being
19:52
Speaker 3: a birthing parent. Such a money win. So throughout this trimester-
19:57
Speaker 3: Erin continued to buy things like electrolytes, prenatals.
20:00
Speaker 1: She started on the Medjool.
20:01
Speaker 3: Dates and the raspberry leaf tea, just like me, and
20:04
Speaker 3: has given us a trimester total of $ 381. 99 for all
20:06
Speaker 3: of these things. Altogether, Erin's total for this trimester was $ 845. 22,
20:08
Speaker 3: bringing her entire rolling total to $ 2, 300.
20:09
Speaker 2: 60.
20:10
Speaker 3: Again, This figure is well under the Westpac average, and
20:27
Speaker 3: like Hannah's, it was maybe 10% of what I paid
20:30
Speaker 3: during my experience with the private system. And while both
20:33
Speaker 3: of these women had very different profiles, you can already
20:36
Speaker 3: see what you might expect to spend if you choose
20:39
Speaker 3: similar options or care plans should you be choosing to
20:41
Speaker 3: have kids through the public system. Before we wrapped our
20:44
Speaker 3: interviews with these gorgeous community members, we did ask each
20:47
Speaker 3: mum what she loved the most about the support she
20:50
Speaker 3: received during her pregnancy and delivery. and both agreed that
20:53
Speaker 3: the public system was reputable, responsive, and really attuned to
20:57
Speaker 3: their needs. Erin said it made her feel really seen
21:00
Speaker 3: and heard throughout the entire process. Even when her baby
21:03
Speaker 3: needed to be admitted to the NICU, the pediatrician allowed
21:06
Speaker 3: her to be close to the baby in the ward,
21:08
Speaker 3: responding in a really compassionate way during a time that
21:11
Speaker 3: could have been a really stressful period otherwise. Hannah mentioned
21:15
Speaker 3: how integral the midwives were in her.
21:17
Speaker 1: Experiences, plural.
21:19
Speaker 3: And that even seeking out a student midwife was really
21:21
Speaker 3: helpful in having the care that she wanted throughout one
21:25
Speaker 3: of her pregnancies. For both mums, they said that there
21:28
Speaker 3: was so much value in having a consistent team and
21:31
Speaker 3: continuity of care throughout their birthing experiences and beyond during
21:35
Speaker 3: the home visits. Private or public, the choice is entirely
21:39
Speaker 3: up to you. And now that you've seen the figures
21:41
Speaker 3: just from a few of us, you can only imagine
21:44
Speaker 3: the countless birthing stories and budgets that are flying around.
21:47
Speaker 3: So my friends, do your research, do what's right for you,
21:51
Speaker 3: for your health, for your preferences, and for your financial well-being.
21:55
Speaker 3: Thank you for joining me for another bumper deep dive series.
21:58
Speaker 3: I hope that you found it really informative and really
22:01
Speaker 3: illuminating whether or not you are hoping to have a
22:04
Speaker 3: family in the future or whether you're plotting your next
22:06
Speaker 3: step in your journey. If you'd like to continue hearing
22:09
Speaker 3: about the budgets and the birthing costs of having kids
22:11
Speaker 3: in Australia in 2026, my friends, please.
22:14
Speaker 1: Let us know because I would love to keep sharing them.
22:17
Speaker 1: Who knows?
22:17
Speaker 3: Maybe I'll create an entire mini series. And a very,
22:21
Speaker 3: very special thank you to Hannah and Erin for sharing
22:24
Speaker 3: your stories with us.
22:25
Speaker 1: I loved hearing them.
22:26
Speaker 3: I feel like the community would have loved hearing them.
22:28
Speaker 3: And getting nosy in your receipts is one of my
22:30
Speaker 3: favorite things to get to do. If you think that
22:32
Speaker 3: you've got a story, simply slide into my DMs. Let
22:35
Speaker 3: us know what you think. And if you have any
22:37
Speaker 3: follow-up questions or recommendations for us, please let us know.
22:41
Speaker 1: My friends, I'll be back.
22:42
Speaker 3: Later in the week for a sip of a Friday drink.
22:45
Speaker 1: Until then, please take care of yourselves.
22:47
Speaker 3: And of each other. Thank you so much for being
22:49
Speaker 3: part of our community.
22:54
Speaker 1: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
22:56
Speaker 1: in nature and.
22:57
Speaker 3: Does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the Money
23:01
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23:05
Speaker 3: upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you
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23:10
Speaker 4: Read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial.
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Speaker 1: Advice tailored towards your needs.
23:15
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23:19
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